Right Axillary Artery Cannulation for Veno-Arterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation in Postcardiotomy Patients: A Single-Center Experience

Background and Objectives: To analyze the patient outcome and complication rate of axillary artery cannulation for veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) in patients who could not be weaned from cardiopulmonary bypass after cardiothoracic surgery. Materials and Methods: We analyzed the data of 179 patients who were supported with VA-ECMO with femoral-axillary access (FA VA-ECMO) after cardiothoracic surgery between January 2014 and January 2019 in our department. Patients requiring central aortic cannulation and patients with respiratory failure requiring veno-venous ECMO were excluded. Primary outcomes were in-hospital mortality and 1-year survival rate of patients who were weaned from VA-ECMO support. Secondary outcomes were cannulation-related complications at the axillary site, VA-ECMO-related complications, and systemic complications. Results: In our cohort, 60 (33.5%) patients were female. Mean age was 67.0 +/- 10.9 years. Overall, 78 (43.5%) patients were operated upon electively, 37 (20.7%) patients underwent urgent surgery, and 64 (35.8%) patients underwent emergency surgical treatment. Sixty-seven patients (37.4%) were resuscitated preoperatively. The mean duration of VA-ECMO support was 8.4 +/- 5.1 days. Weaning from VA-ECMO was successful in 87 (48.6%) patients; 62 (34.6%) patients survived the hospital stay. The 1-year survival rate was 74%. Subclavian bleeding occurred in 24 (13.4%) patients, femoral bleeding in 4 (2.2%) patients, ischemia of the upper limb in 11 (6.1%) patients, intracerebral bleeding in 9 (5%) patients, and stroke in 19 (10.6%) patients. Conclusions: In patients with acute LV dysfunction after cardiothoracic surgery who cannot be weaned from cardiopulmonary bypass, right axillary artery cannulation is a safe and reliable method for VA-ECMO support with an acceptable complication rate.